Coinbase has received a full national trust bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), upgrading the conditional approval it obtained in April and placing its institutional custody business under direct federal supervision, the exchange said Monday.

The OCC approved the application for Coinbase National Trust Company last Friday, the company said in a blog post. OCC licensing records, as reported, show the chartering process was completed Nov. 6.

Coinbase applied in October 2025 and received preliminary approval on April 2. In the intervening months, the company had to finish its organizational and operational preparations before the regulator would allow the trust bank to open.

"This charter allows us to bring clear and consistent federal uniformity to our industry-leading custody capabilities," Coinbase wrote in the announcement, adding that it strengthens the regulatory framework under which it serves customers. The company said it has served as a custodian for more than 14 years.

What the Charter Permits

A national trust bank can hold assets for clients in a fiduciary capacity, and Coinbase's focus is custody for institutional customers. The entity is not a commercial bank: it cannot take ordinary retail deposits or make loans, and the charter does not authorize it to issue stablecoins.

Staking, prime trading and financing will keep running through Coinbase affiliates rather than the trust itself. Under the OCC's April decision, the trust bank acts as an intermediary for those services and does not perform them directly.

The approval also comes with conditions. During its first three years, the trust bank must hold at least $60 million in Tier 1 capital and enough liquid assets to cover 180 days of operating expenses. The license likewise does not automatically connect Coinbase to Federal Reserve payment systems; that requires a separate application under the Fed's account access guidelines.

Coinbase currently runs custody through Coinbase Custody Trust Company, a limited-purpose trust regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services. The company plans to move that business to the national entity over three years, shifting custody oversight from a state regulator to the OCC and consolidating it under the federal framework the company said it has been seeking.

A Crowded Charter Queue

Coinbase is the latest crypto firm to complete a federal trust charter. Ripple received final approval on Oct. 26, and Circle won final OCC approval in July, a decision that put USDC reserves on a path toward federal supervision.

The OCC has been courting the sector. In August, Comptroller Jonathan V. Gould said "America and the OCC are once again open for business" as the regulator touted its charter push. Ripple, Circle, Crypto.com and Paxos had all received conditional approval by then, and Block applied for its own banking charter in September.

The approval did not come without resistance. The Independent Community Bankers of America urged the OCC in December to reject Coinbase's application, arguing the exchange has "demonstrably flawed risk and control functions." The American Bankers Association asked the regulator in February to slow its review of crypto charter requests.

Underneath those objections is a turf war over stablecoins. Coinbase wants to pay customers rewards for holding the tokens, and banks say that could erode their deposit base.

Coinbase (COIN) did not disclose any financial impact from the charter in its announcement, which framed the approval as a regulatory milestone.

The timing is notable. The approval arrives days after Democrats won both chambers of Congress, and a charter issued by an executive-branch regulator sits outside any legislative fight, at least for now. Vice Chairman Ryan VanGrack said the company has spent years "asking for clear rules and rigorous oversight," and Coinbase described the approval as "another major step" in integrating digital assets into the American financial system.

The next test is whether Coinbase moves its existing custody clients over on schedule, and whether the community bankers who opposed the charter take their objections to court or to Congress. Whether the new trust eventually seeks access to Federal Reserve payment systems, which would require a separate application under the Fed's account access guidelines, is another marker to watch as the three-year migration unfolds.

This article, written by Micah Zimmerman, first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.